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The Fledgling Soul
This article, , is a side-story entry in Bleach: The Coven War, set shortly after A Giving Soul, The Watchful Soul and The Departing Soul. Michael Davis and Jenna Sheppard are the main characters. ---- Qs and Ps Here she was once again doing the exact opposite of "laying low". For a moment Jenna stopped and thought, "What the hell am I doing!?" For just a few moments ago a black-haired Shinigami with piercing red eyes and a steadily hardening expression had been leaning against the brickwork of an alleyway in Houston, Texas, quite near an abandoned factory where the man had previously trained a new Substitute Shinigami. He had listened carefully and without interruption as Jenna told him how she suspected that a certain policewoman had concealed cultist activity from him. He'd taken it better than she thought. Aside from vowing to sort this out later and warning her to stay away from Maria, the Shinigami left. Or so she had thought. He appeared in front of her suddenly and Jenna nearly had a heart attack! "Oh, and consider yourself drafted." The man said with a truly devilish grin. "Goodbye and thanks!" "Wait, what!? Drafted? For what!?" "You'll see!" She was left standing in the mouth of the alleyway, illuminated by a nearby street lamp, shouting up at the heavens. There was a brief flash of white light, which quickly vanished, and then he was gone; she could no longer sense him, so that meant he had returned to the Soul Society. And just like that Jenna realised that the day had ran ahead without her noticing. It was early evening already! "Tonight has been eventful." She caught her reflection in a puddle at her feet and her eye slowly started twitching from pure annoyance. Her long-sleeved red shirt was scuffed due to a Hollow getting just a little too close earlier, her black skirt thankfully was unblemished, but her black leggings where dotted with splashes of mud. "Well, I suppose that's what happens when you hang around alleyways," she thought angrily. She took a moment to brush out her wavy-black hair. Now, just what was she going to do now? "Why did I call my brother?" She mused aloud as she walked away from the factory. "Ugh, this is all his fault!" "Kaaaaaa... Kaaaaaaaaa...." Loud snores filled the warehouse, followed by a sleeping bubble increasing and decreasing in size as the boy breathed. Turning over in his bed, somehow Michael managed to reach the end of the bed and rolled off of it onto the ground. His collision with the hard ground made a loud thud, forcing the boy out of his slumber. "FUCK!" He shouted, looking down at the ground while gripping his head in pain. "Where the fuck a-" At his side, he'd noticed a piece of paper lying to him with words written on it. Even though his memory was a bit hazy, he knew for a fact the paper wasn't there when he went to sleep. Lifting the note he began, "Dear Kid, I've got important business to attend to." Before continuing on, Michael looked to his left and his right but he couldn't seem to find what he was looking for. "That nigga dipped while I was asleep? What the fuck?" Continuing on to read from the note in Kenji's voice, Michael cleared his throat. "Don't go doing anything stupid when I'm gone, and that includes approaching other Shinigami and telling them what happened. Your life -- and mine! -- could very well hang in the balance. They'll be sending someone to investigate the battlefield regardless but know I've already removed all traces of you from the scene. You're welcome. So keep your head down and think before you blink." "Keep my head down, my ass. I ain't staying up in this dump, I gotta' get home and clean my self up." Lifting to his feet, Michael took another glance at the note. "P.S. I don't know when I'll be back -- but I will be back -- so look forward to that. Oh, and this message will explode after you've read it. You've been warned." Eyes widened, Michael lifted his hand into the air and flung the note into the air and as he did, the note exploded. "Imma' kick his ass..." Somewhere Kenji was smiling. And laughing. The "exploding note" prank had been a nice touch. It certainly wouldn't have been fatal, or even of consequence had one been prepared, but against someone barely awake not suspecting it? Suffice to say it would be enough to blow one's eyebrows off. Trust Kenji to impart a lesson without even being in the room. And it caused a racket! Shortly after the sound of exploding paper stopped echoing off the walls and the smoke cleared, the screeching of a metal door sliding open filled the space inside the factory and in stepped a teenage girl. She looked wary -- could you blame her? -- and she cautiously looked around. She was nervously fidgeting with her hands, as if she was fighting an urge of some kind. "Uhm, hello?" She called. "You okay in there?" Michael turned towards the direction of the opening door and speaking voice. "The hell do you mean, am I okay? Nigga, you left me in here to read a note only to find out it would explo-" Michael stopped mid-sentence as the sight of the female who'd just entered the factory. Swiftly leaping to his feet, Michael threw his hand behind his head and began to rub it. He had no idea who this person was, but how they'd seemingly just pranced on into the factory, they must've been affiliated with it in some way. "Oh nah!" He smiled nervously, shaking his free hand. "I was just workin' on a school project for my Chemistry class! I'm fine though, you can go on ahead!" With a suspicious laugh and smile, Michael waved his hand at the girl for her to leave, but as he continued to look at her he began to something within her. "Woah, she ain't no normal human." The teenager quickly rolled her eyes before chuckling. She took a moment to herself to take in the sight of this young man. His clothing aside it was obvious that he was the new Substitute Shinigami. His reiatsu -- even resting as it was at present -- was a clear indicator of that. Happy she had stumbled upon the right person she stepped forward. "I hope that wasn't your science project." Her approach was slow. It was clear in her hesitant movement and tone of voice that she wasn't at all sure of herself, though amusement shone in those aqua-blue eyes. "While it might win points for being flashy, that'd be about it." Then she remembered she hadn't even introduced herself. "I'm Jenna Sheppard, by the way." "Y-yeah I ain't never been good at chemistry anyway." He nervously laughed with his hand still resting on the back of his head from earlier. She'd casually introduced herself, but Michael had no idea what her intentions were. Yet, with this in mind he couldn't just be rude to her. Shaking his head slightly, he gave a normal smile. "Michael, Michael Davis." Turning his back the the area of the explosion, Michael looked for the note but it had been incinerated. "What made you stop in here? If it was that explosion, I'm fine somethin' like that can't stop me." She maintained a respectable distance -- enough that it wasn't impolite, and enough to allow a quick retreat should the need arise. Not that she thought it would be needed but it was still best to be cautious regardless. Besides, it was obvious that she was struggling to put into words why exactly she was in the factory in the first place. There was also the fact Kenji had made a deliberate point to inform her that the Substitute did not know his identity. "Well, I guess we share a... I suppose that Shinigami would be an acquaintance? I only know a little about him because he trained my brother, and for that reason I got drafted for God only knows what. I assume it has something to do with you so, yeah, curiosity more than anything." She realized that the vague description of 'that Shinigami' wasn't a lot to go on; especially so if Michael had happened to meet Shinigami other than Kenji. There had certainly been others at the scene the night Michael received his powers. But then she had a brainwave! Yes, the perfect way to describe Kenji bloody Hiroshi without dropping his name. "The Shinigami who helped you? Is he a red-eyed idiot with a lightning fetish?" Michael wasted no time in reacting to her response, "Oh, that bastard? If you can call 'em, that'd be nice. Imma' tell him I'll kill him for that stunt he just pulled." Standing back to his feet, he eyed Jenna for a moment and began to think back onto what she said. "Wait, he trained yo' brother? And you got drafted?" Initially, Michael had no idea what she had been referring to, but the word "drafted" seemed a bit too close to him, take it Michael had been considering a draft for his talents of a basketball player. He had months before this would come into fruition, so he shook his head for a moment and forgot all about it. He had bigger fish in his sea, like the events that occurred that day. "Wait... you got drafted by him? So you know him, personally? What even is all this shit? Like is this shit real? The Shinigami and all that other bullshit he had been spouting about. Or is this just... something?" Jenna adopted a far-off look when asked about her brother but quickly returned to her cheerful outlook. Michael had no way of knowing how dysfunctional her family was. The fact Garrett lived in Japan, where he was literally as far away from the rest of his family as he could get, would not be known to Michael. And she didn't really feel like talking about it either. So she settled for a version of the truth. "I'm as confused as you, considering I met the guy for the first time just before he gave you an exploding page, and when I asked him what he meant by 'draft' he told me 'You'll see!'." She left out that she found the stunt rather funny, and was barely containing her laughter. "As for calling him... You won't on any phone made in our world. He's gone off to the Soul Society and didn't say when he would be back. Believe me or not, but it's all real. I see you're struggling with 'Shinigami' and 'Soul Society', so I'll tell you I'm a 'Quincy' and leave it at that for now." She quickly drew in reishi to summon a pulsating blue-white longbow centred on her right-hand before allowing it to dissipate. The action looked casual despite the training required with the repelling effect of her bracelet. "Just know I'm spiritually aware too." "That's cool." He mumbled in response to Jeanna's statement about not being able to contact him through other Human means. "If those things," referring to Hollows, "are being hunted by Shinigami, then Imma' ask one of them to help me get into contact with 'em." His claim seemed ridiculous, but he was as serious as could be. Michael was all for protecting people, but as it currently stood, he just could be tied down by that at the moment. Summer camp was around the corner, and he'd give his own life before his missed such an important event. Shaking his head, "Nevermind." He sighed, pulling on his shihakusho's sleeves. "You said you a, uh, Quintie or somethin' like that. I'd love to know more about it, but why can't I just go back to doing me. If he trained yo' brother and drafted you, then he ain't got a need for me? The hell is that bastard gettin' at?" "He trained my brother. Past tense; they stay in touch, but from what my brother tells me he doesn't do anything half-assed. So I highly doubt he's abandoned you. You can't be anywhere near as annoying as my brother and that fool stuck by him." Jenna, of course, wasn't privy to the actual contents of the message Kenji had left behind for Michael and was only making educated guesses. If only the note hadn't exploded -- Michael would have been fit to reread the bit where Kenji stressed that he would be back. It was also fact that neither of the two knew the reason for Kenji's sudden departure, and that was as much for their protection. Michael specifically. The man was working against time and The Coven was on the move. Sadly he hadn't opened his mouth about any of this and the two where free to draw their own conclusions. Jenna casually glanced at the screen of her phone and cursed beneath her breathe. "Look, it's getting late, and I have work tomorrow morning. You known Lloyd's corner shop? It's about two miles away from here?" She spent two evenings a week and her Saturday morning in the same shop Lloyd owned, and sadly she was on the early shift tomorrow morning. "But I finish at one o'clock. I'll do my best to answer your questions then. Call me!" She was very forward for a moment. She scribbled her number on the back of Michael's left-hand, flashed a quick smile, and quickly darted towards the exit. "So fast..." Michael thought to himself as the girl breezed past him to the door in a single dash. By the time he lifted his hand to take a look at the number she'd left on his hand, she'd exited the factory and left the young man with a couple of questions he'd like answered. Throwing his head down in dissatisfaction, he shook it. "Why do I get the feelin', this man is playin' with me. How the hell he's gonna' say I'm stuck with something and not be here to at least train me enough to go the extra mile." Walking over to his "bed" Michael lifted his sword from off the ground and held it out in front of himself. "I ain't never been the type to wait for Coach Young to come to the gym before I start practicing, so I ain't waiting for this guy either." Gripping the hilt of his blade, Michael squeezed with all of his might. Swinging it with both of his heads at the air, he stopped shortly after. "I don't really like this at all..." He commented, flipped the blade along his left arm back into its reverse grip hold. Dashing and swinging, Michael performed an array of dodge and slashes trying to adapt to swordsplay. While his slashes were sloppy, his footwork and movement found itself on another level. Finally stopping after he reached the other side of the building, he leaned against the wall and let out a deep breath. "The hell am I doin'.." The Morning After "Why didn't you wake me!?" Jenna zipped around the room trying -- and failing -- to get herself organised for her morning shift. David, as he was accustomed to do, was being his usual helpful self. He watched the scene unfold and clutched his sides in laughter, but his laughter was soon silenced permanently when Jenna splashed a glass of orange juice over him! His meticulously styled brown-coloured hair was soaked atop his head and his black shirt and light-denim jeans where soaked! "Just an FYI?" Jenna jibed further. "I'm not washing them for you." "BITCH!" Jenna dodged the thrown sofa cushion with a gymnasts flexibility and slipped out the door with her toast in-hand before said cushion had even hit the ground. Nothing brightened her mood in the morning more than getting one over on her annoying brother. But the levity was shirt-lived at best. Once again she found her thoughts drifting to the Substitute Shinigami and his mentor. "What have I gotten myself mixed up in here? A cop finding out I'm a Quincy was bad enough, but then I learn she's been lying to Kenji about cultists. Cultists! And I told him. And now I'm 'drafted' for my trouble! Whatever that means?" Never mind Michael having a lot of information to absorb in a short time. The same was also very true for Jenna. She still had no idea what Kenji intended, but it was clear to her now that she had time to think about it that he wanted Michael and herself to work together. But why? That was another part she couldn't figure out. She was a Quincy and he was a Substitute Shinigami! Drop the 'Substitute' and he was just another Shinigami -- one of the so-called 'Balancers' who wiped the vast majority of her people out. "Why did I listen to Garrett? I should have listened to David and stayed well away!" Not that she would ever admit to agreeing with her idiot of a younger brother. Suffice to say that thoughts about how a Quincy could possibly work with a Shinigami milled about her head all morning and she got very little in the way of actual work done, even though she actually managed to get there and get the shop opened on-time. (miracle!) But then they weren't busy in the first place -- most of the shelves where stocked from when Lloyd had done it last night. All Jenna had contributed was a brush over the floor and a quick mop when it hit one o'clock and her shift came to an end. "Off anywhere special today?" Lloyd asked her when he showed up for work. "Hmmmm, not sure yet." And as she said it she glanced at her phone... Much like Jeanna, Michael had also been doing quite a bit of pondering. However, it seemed that he'd been doing it from the comfort of his own home evident by the restroom he'd been standing in. Grabbing the dry towel from the counter, he wiped the water from his face and let out a sigh. As he looked at his topless self he noticed the scars over his body. Touching one of them, he cursed. "Damn. That shit actually hurts." His phone began to ring, but it wasn't a call, just a notification. He looked at it for a moment and didn't even bother touching it. Turning back to the mirror, he continued to inspect the wounds given to him by the Hollow a few days ago. Grabbing the alcohol from the counter, he used the towel and damped it with its contents. Rubbing his side with the towel, he squinted his eyes a bit. The burning seemed to have gotten to him a little. Throwing the towel back to the counter, he pondered even more. "Ya' know, that damn Shiniga- whatever, never came back. It's been two days... I wonder." His phone buzzed again, but this time he picked up it. Behind it, laid a piece of paper with numbers written on it. "Oh yeah... I was supposed to call that girl." Picking the paper up, he began to dial the number and the phone rung a couple of times before someone finally picked up. "Hello?" He asked, not even pausing he continued, "You gave me yo' number at the facto- or whatever the fuck that place was, the other other." "Did I?" Jenna's voice had taken on a mischievous note and had Michael actually been standing in front of her he would have seen the telling smile. "Sorry, Michael, I couldn't-" "Ahhh, so its a boy then!?" It was obvious that the voice trickling through the receiver had been shouted on Jenna's end because Michael only barely heard it. Jenna's reply would likely rupture Michael's eardrum however. "Lloyd, but your neb out!!" "Right." Michael responded, lifting his eyebrow over the phone but she wouldn't be able to see him. "Yeah, I just called cause you gave me the number and if I gave somebody mine.. I'd be pissed if they didn't use it." Touching the speaker icon on his phone he placed the device on the counter and pulled the towel back to his face once again. "I dunno' if you got the answer to this next question," he began, lifting a toothbrush to his mouth to begin brushing. "Where's that Shinigami?" "I can guess where he is." She was quiet for a minute though as she moved herself to the far entrance of the small car park that serviced Lloyd's shop. She was obviously trying not to sound completely crazy to anyone who might overhear her talking about 'Shinigami', 'Senkaimon' and 'Soul Society'. Not to mention 'Hollow' who appeared to devour a person's Soul. Would you think her entirely sane? And she was right to be cautious. Floating high above her head, obscured through Kidō and perfectly indistinguishable from the surrounding clouds, stood one man with a long black trench coat and raggedly styled shoulder-length raven-black hair tied in a tight ponytail. He watched the girl chatter away on a mobile phone and his eyes momentarily narrowed. In that instant his appearance changed abruptly; whether through illusion, Kidō, or some other means the man now appeared completely different from before. He retained his height and wiry build but now sported long white-coloured hair and a white kimono with a long dark-blue haori similar to the style favoured by his father's rival. And he vanished. "...Wait." Jenna got the sudden feeling that someone was walking over her grave! She looked over her shoulder and sighed, for she saw nothing. "What was that? I only sensed it for a moment, but... Oh, I forgot about Michael!" "Sorry, I was in a crowd. As I said before though, I think he returned to the Soul Society -- that's where Shinigami live by the way, and also where the Souls they save from Hollow go to as well. As far as I'm aware it isn't somewhere you can go easily." Rather than bicker with Jeanna Michael accepted what she said. Spitting into the sink, he smiled to himself and began to fantasize in the mirror. “Damn I look good!” He shouted, a frequent thing the young man did often. Michael was every bit of conceited people made him out to be. And he had no problem with it. “If we don’t know when he’s coming back and the fact that I can’t get to where he is...” Michael threw his thumb against his chest. “The I ain’t gotta worry about that bullshit of being a Shinigami or Substitute or whatever!” "Really!?" Jenna answered before really stopping to think. The sheer relief that settled over her upon hearing that Michael wasn't going to worry about his predicament was indescribable. She pretty much had Michael pegged as the "leap before he looked" type. She had pretty much convinced herself that he'd be running from Hollow to Hollow to test his powers, and no matter how much she said that she wanted to stay out of it, she couldn't just watch anyone leap headlong into danger without at least some help. And it seemed that that mindset was exactly what Kenji had been banking on when he 'drafted' her. "Since you won't be Substituting, you want to meet up somewhere? I'm sure you have questions? I can at least answer some of them." "Yeah yeah." Michael swiftly responded to her question of being able to meet. He'd been free today considering the season was over, all that was left was off-season training and summer camp, but he had a few days he could spare to doing nothing. He began to think of potential places they could meet up at, but nothing seemed to catch at the moment. He'd considered the Pryor's shop, but what if Lamaria was there? She'd surely make fun of him for being around a girl. A rather different approach to life for him. He snapped his fingers, "Ah yeah. You can come to my house if ya' want." Drying his hands onto the nearby towel, he lifted the phone off of the countertop and exited the restroom where he immediately landed inside of his room. Walking over to the closet, he looked through the various clothing hand onto hangers. "Um my address is 2110 Napoleon St. Thirty minutes sound good for you? I just have to get dressed. Call or ring the doorbell when you get here." Answers? Or Questions? Jenna remembered her reaction when she stood outside the address given to her -- 2110 Napoleon St. -- and how she assumed Michael must have misspoken on the phone. When she rang the doorbell however and Michael welcomed her inside she remembered scooting past him and admiring the view. The house was huge! It made the small flat she rented from Lloyd look like a cheap caravan in comparison. "He must be loaded!" At the present time Jenna was seated atop a large and comfy sofa waiting for Michael to return to the room. Walking back into the living room area, Michael hand a couple of water bottles in his hand and a few bags of chips and other snacks he'd gotten out of the kitchen. Placing them on the table as he flopped down onto the sofa, he slouched and turned his attention to Jeanna. He stared at her for a moment, his own gold eyes falling into her blue sea eyes. He had a moment of lust, but he quickly smiled to snap out of it. "Uh, you can have anything in the kitchen. Just help yourself if you don't want anything that a bought." "Thanks," she replied, still looking around. He clapped his hands a couple of times as though he had been thinking about something before coming to a realization of what it was. "Right! Jeanna!" He exclaimed, fiddling with his hands. "It look like you are familiar with all this shit that's going on." His slangish tongue made his pattern of speech atrocious. "How you handling it? Like, did you just accept it or some? ...Meanwhile in the Seireitei... "Hey, Van? You ever feel like you've forgotten something reaaaaally important?" Kenji asked suddenly. Van scowled at Kenji with one of those 'of course I have, don't you know me?' looks on his face. He then shook his head, sighed, and returned to readying his gear. In the course of his preparations he happened to throw Kenji's discarded medical kit to the side -- why he needed one when he wasn't in the 4th Division was beyond Van -- and from it tumbled a small green pill. Van picked it up and smiled. "This wouldn't be what you forgot, would it?" Kenji's face was a picture. "... Son of a bitch!!" And Van's sides nearly split from laughter! ...Back in the World of the Living... Jenna looked contemplative for a moment and decided finally to be honest with her answer. "In the beginning? Yeah, I hated it; sometimes I still do. I mean, so much of my childhood was put on hold so I could learn to fight these really big and scary things, and I was never given the choice. Sometimes I still ignore everything that's going on around me, so I understand your hesitation. As for dealing with it? Day to day, I'm afraid." "Scared huh?" He chuckled admiring Jeanna's honesty. "Nah, I don't think Imma' be scared. I got a big dic- RIGHT!" He interrupted himself as, continuing to slouching into the couch. The soft cushion had nearly been swallowing the young man and he liked every bit of it. "Not gonna' lie, it all did kinda hit me at once. So it caught me off gaurd." Michael had a sudden flash to his dream from last night. There was a dark area of his psyche and there stood a faint image of the man, Shisui Sengoku. The one responsible for giving Michael his Shinigami powers to begin with. He was quiet for a moment, the man's image felt as though he had been being haunted. His flesh crawled which also managed to snap him back to reality. "What do you even do anyway? Like, you are Shinigami too?" He asked. "Well, as I said, I'm a Quincy. And just what that is -- and what I do -- needs a little explanation." That was putting it mildly. In recent memory it was almost unheard of for a Quincy and a Shinigami -- Substitute or otherwise -- to be anything other than enemies. How was Jenna supposed to explain to Michael that the very power he now possessed had been turned against her people in the past and as a direct result her people had dwindled to a mere handful? She could well imagine how that conversation would go. She was obviously struggling with an answer to the question when pure surprise killed the answer before it had even left her mouth. "She is a Quincy. And you are a Shinigami." The voice belonged to a male and very soon he made himself known. He appeared in the space above Jenna's and Michael's heads and slowly descended using what Jenna assumed to be Shunpo to float in the air. The figure was tall, with a wiry frame, and long white-coloured hair tied in a tight ponytail. What neither Jenna or Michael knew was that this individual was the very same man who had earlier observed Jenna; his illusionary powers had altered his appearance to resemble his role model. His left hand was looped lazily through his kimono whilst his right hung loosely by his side. "If you fail to understand what that means, Michael, then know that she is the sworn enemy of the Shinigami. The Quincy are every bit a threat to the Cycle of Souls as Hollow are a threat to Humans." "I'' haven't threatened anyone!" Jenna bit back whilst at the same time casting a pleading look towards Michael. Leaping from the couch, Michael's attention drifted from Jeanna to the unnamed assailant who'd just appeared in his home. Michael may not have known much of the spirit world, Shinigami, and all this other stuff he'd been introduced too--but he knew for a fact that this man was not human. He could sense this many's spiritual pressure, like a mother being able to sense her baby in danger. "Nigga, who the hell're you!?" Michael asking, shouting at the man. "'Ion care about none of this threat bullshit you talkin' about, but what I do care about is how you got in here. And why you're in here?!" Before he could let the man answer he'd already wandered off into his thoughts. ''"Shit, how do I use my Shinigami powers? Where is he?" "I got in through the front door." And he wasn't lying. He had walked in right on Jenna's heels obscured all-the-while by Kidō and his appearance shrouded by illusion. "I didn't sense you." Jenna noted. "And why isn't Michael leaving his body?" And that was when it struck her. "Don't tell me Kenji didn't even show him that!? What kind of fool training did he give Michael that he decided to leave that out?" "Who I am isn't important right now. As for why I'm here, perhaps we can sit down and discuss that very topic?" And Hotaru didn't wait for permission. He took the single-seater facing Michael and Jenna and crossed his legs. "You see certain parties are considerably interested in your new skills." He looked to be perfectly at his ease. His entrance alone showed well his confidence and his attitude since gave the impression that he was in perfect control. "So what? You Shinigami don't got manners or something? You can just come into people's cribs like that, nigga. You have to knoooockkk oooon theeee dooor." Michael tried explaining to the man. Inching closer to Jeanna's side, Michael kept his eyes peeled onto the man before whispering to Jeanna. "You wouldn't happen to know how to make me go Shinigami-state would you?" He asked. Skipping past his question, to try and keep the man from being aware of what he'd been attempting to achieve. Michael took on a fighting stance. "So, tell me one more time. Whatchu' here for again? Cause you ain't taking shit up outta' here." Jenna had one option. It wasn't ideal -- she was fairly certain the spell in question hadn't been intended to be used on a Human who happened to possess Shinigami powers. But they weren't exactly in the position to pick hairs, so she was either going to use the spell known as Exequies and hope it succeeded or watch her gambit fail. And then she would likely die. As soon as Michael was done whispering Jenna clapped him lightly on the chest even as Michael turned and dropped into a fighting stance. The result was immediate: Michael's Human body fell backwards to be caught and handled somewhat roughly by Jenna whilst his Soul form -- garbed in the black of a Shinigami -- was what struck the fighting pose. "I never thought I'd be happy to see that." Jenna admitted. Coven's Treasure Hotaru, however, was not impressed. "I don't have the luxury of time, I'm afraid, nor the patience to ask nicely. I'll take you back with us, Michael, and then I'll kill the girl. If the new Substitute Shinigami will not serve The Coven, then he won't help the Gotei 13 either." As his soul left from his body, Michael formed a big smile. The all black shihakusho covered his body like a woman's nightgown, while his hands were covered by a pair of white fingerless gloves that gripped the hilt of his Zanpakutō. He looked to Jeanna with curiosity, he wanted to ask just how'd she done it, but instead, he ignored it for now. In his new form, Michael placed his blade across his shoulder. "I don't give a fuck what you have time for. Get the hell outta' here if you so busy then. Causing I ain't going anywhere with ya'." Hotaru had done something quite unprecedented -- he had come to this engagement with his Zanpakutō in its sealed state. This form, which was that of a wakizashi with a figure-eight cross-guard and a white-as-snow hilt, was unknown to the Gotei 13 at large and was altogether more secretive and identity concealing when compared to his well-known Shikai. And he was levelling said blade right as Michael's skull! Which got Jenna thinking. "For a recruiter he's certainly quick to resort to the blade. He's thrown diplomacy out the window immediately. I wonder...?" In a single motion, Michael's Zanpakutō unsheathed itself allowing for the scabbard to flip over his shoulder onto the ground. As he pulling his hand forward, the blade traveled across the space and clashed against Hotaru's own blade. Despite the clash being mediocre compared to what Hotaru had been accustomed to, Michael could feel the man's strength in that alone, causing him to jump bacn to increase the gap between the two. Looking to Jeanna for a short moment, he spoke, "You'd better get outta' here. Mans kinda' strong." He relayed to Jeanna, basically sharing he'd doubt he could protect her, ignorant to the fact the girl could protect herself well enough. Stepping forward, he and appeared behind Hotaru. This time, his blade had been in that unusual reverse grip hold, swinging at the man at his "blindside". Hotaru followed the movement and pivoted on the balls of his feet and deliberately aimed his parrying strike to force Michael's blade to the side, which he followed up with a backwards step. It seemed he was content enough to feel Michael out at this point. Whilst he did this he positioned himself so that he was keeping both Michael and Jenna in his general line-of-sight. "If that Shunpo was an accident then I'm a monkey's uncle. Judging by what Maria relayed to us it hasn't been long since he acquired his powers. Or did he have help? Could the girl have pieced together the fundamentals of Shunpo based on and then show him?" It seemed The Coven's information net wasn't as pinpoint as previously thought for Hotaru was oblivious to Michael's training under Kenji. Hotaru opted for a different approach and a wicked smile split his face. " ." As soon as he threw out his left arm twisting coils of white cloth wrapped themselves around the general area Michael, Jenna and Michael's physical body sat and with a blinding flash of white light the scenery suddenly shifted. Hotaru had moved everyone -- himself included -- to an uninhabited area out in the sticks far from anyone or anything. "What did you just do!?" Jenna demanded. As the world around him shifted, Michael gave off a smile which was large enough to show his teeth at an angle. "To be honest, Ion' care what he just did." Michael slid his hand down the hilt of his Zanpakutō and then brought the blade to the side of his face, still maintaining his reverse grip hold. "If we ain't in my house anymore, then that means I beat the shit outta' him without worrying about breaking anything, right?" Michael's Zanpakutō sudden danced with electricity around the blade. His smile grew larger as he store at Hotaru's figure at the distance he stood away. "That just means that I ain't gotta even worry about holding back now... stand back shorty." His grin disappeared and instead was replaced by a look of seriousness. His mind wandered back to that time he'd been training with Kenji and when he spoke to his blade for the first time. Images flashed of the command the blade gave him and he repeated them out loud as they replayed over and over in his head. "Roar, Tenrairyū!" He screamed in that same thunderous manner. The ground he stood on shook as clouds formed into the "sky" above. In the next breath, a bolt of lightning struck the ground between Hotaru and Michael, leaving a deep crater once it disappeared. "After I beat you, I'll send you back to those people with my message of no!" Hotaru's smile was predatory. "We have ways of forcing your cooperation. And considering your current display of power, I might just force it." The change in Hotaru was abrupt. He switched his hold on the hilt of his Zanpakutō to a reverse-grip and coolly levelled his gaze at Michael. As a wielder of Bankai he had absolutely no reason to intone "Rise, Tsukigami" to release his Zanpakutō into Shikai, but he had another reason for using what he called a "false Shikai". The second part of his plan was dependant on what happened down the road however, but at least he had the contingency in place. "Flow, Namikaze!" The true illusionary power of Tsukigami kicked in and, combined with the sorcerous effects of Kidō, produced a powerful display of and boiling, twisting waves which gave the impression of being Hotaru's genuine Shikai. Both surrounded Hotaru's body as a makeshift defence but when he pointed his wakizashi towards Michael the waves suddenly flew towards him! A grunt, "Arrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggg!" the teen shouted, pulling his blade over his head unleashing a monstrous strike towards the boiling wave. This was no ordinary slash. With its great yell and tremendous force, Michael unknowingly commanded the forces of the wind to act as an extension of his blade. As the sword came over his head, the compressed wind also smashed down, going straight through the wave of water, splitting it directly in half like the legendary did in the ancient books to the red sea. The two waves formed at Michael's side like walls and he dashing across the air like a magician towards Hotaru. "I hope yo shikai ain't water fam, because you just got the worst matchup!" In that time it took him to complete this sentence, Michael closed the gap between the unknown shinigami. With his hand high up, Michael attempted to slash Hotaru vertically. "Oh, you have no idea." Hotaru thought smugly. Instead of dodging Hotaru opted to block. What better way was there of gauging Michael's strength? He placed the flat of his Zanpakutō out in front of him and braced the blade with his left forearm, before readying himself for the blow. Even Hotaru had to admit that the blow was solid. To break the deadlock he momentarily bore the weight of Michael's strike with his right hand and withdrew his left, where he then channelled a spell in the palm of his hand. He dropped to a crouch -- Michael's blade mere millimetres from his skull -- and slammed the fiery orb into the ground! Hotaru slid free of the resulting smoke-cloud and fiery explosion and exhaled lightly. "He was definitely trained, if even partly, by someone." The explosion completely engulfed the area, swallowing Michael completely as Hotaru managed to free himself of its power. Even though the man could simply just control the area the explosion affected and remained safe. I mean, he was a member of one of the greatest organizations to utilize magic. From within the fiery cloud, one could see Michael's hand extending out of the smoke with his blade pointing directly toward Hotaru. With a simple swing of his blade, the cloud of debris revealing his figure still standing... but barely. Blood slid down the side of his face, while his mohawk seemed to have covered just where the source of blood had been coming from. His shihakushō had almost been completely shredded. Face bearing scars and wounds, one would be surprised that he even survived.. hell he had no idea how he'd done it, though an adept sensor such as Hotaru would have easily been able to deduce it: an armor of reiatsu. "Damn... I don't know how I'm still standing..." Michael muttered, panting heavily as though he were on the brink of passing out. Eyes stuck on Hotaru despite the gap between the two, he then spoke to Jeanna. "Hey shorty, get out of here.. However, you'll do that." "I think I bit off more than I could chew." Michael thought to himself, pants still heavy though now blood began to leak even more. "I can't die here! What the fuck can I do to beat this nigga?" "Did your teacher not instruct you on Kidō defences?" Hotaru asked. He even chuckled as he finished his question. "Maybe we overestimated your abilities." Before he could advance however Hotaru was stopped dead in his tracks by a thrown greyish cylinder. "A silver rod strikes the five-fingered stone bed -- !" "Oh, for the love of- Seriously!? This holding back malarkey is dulling my senses, I swear." Hotaru thought. "Now... how best to destroy this?" "We haven't much time." Jenna said to Michael as the spell took hold and enveloped Hotaru. "He'll be out of that in quick order, and before you say it again, it isn't enough time to run. Now stand still." Jenna's hand glowed with green spiritual energy as she quickly hovered her palm over Michael's various wounds. They closed quickly and each time they did the intensity of the green energy coating Jenna's hands dimmed. When his wounds had closed and the bleeding stopped Jenna staggered backwards as if drunk. She smiled weakly. "Whew, yup. That was a bad idea." In a sudden breath, all of Michael's pains had gone away. His once distraught look had changed into a great big smile. "I don't know what you did, but thank you." He said, finally forming a decent sentence to thank Jeanna. Even though he had no true ability to sense spiritual pressure, he could at least make out that Jenna had suffered from her last actions. "Next time just let me be. You ain't gotta tire yourself out for me, I'm still a stranger to you." He claimed, flying across the ground at Hotaru. Stopping just a few feet in front of Hotaru, Michael swiftly pulled his blade out in front of himself and pointed the tip directly Hotaru. Pinching his face, he used his free hand to grab ahold of his arm gripping his Zanpakutō. "I been practicin' this, I hope it works!" Pouring his reiatsu into Tenrairyu, the blade began to spark with electricity. "Lightning Shot!" Michael shouted, releasing a large condensed bullet of lightning from his heading right for Hotaru. Jenna backed up but instead of sitting and waiting she dropped into something similar to a meditative pose and began to absorb the ambient reishi in the air. The Human World wasn't like Soul Society or Hueco Mundo where reishi was plentiful. In the Human World it was thinner but gathered in sufficient quantities it could still be beneficial. Every moment that passed her flagging spiritual energy grew stronger. As for Hotaru he had just managed to punch a sizeable hole in Gritz and looked mightily pleased with himself when he saw a bullet of lightning fly towards him! You'd have thought he would react with surprise but then Hotaru was no stranger to lightning-based attacks. His father was Kenji Hiroshi, who happened to have possibly the strongest lightning-based Zanpakutō back in their own world, and Hotaru had sparred with the man extensively. Still, he had only a small window, and as things stood Gritz would actually amplify the explosion. He threw up a quick barrier and angled it towards the floor. As he hoped some of the leading discharge was directed into the floor and away from him, but when the remainder of the blast impacted his wards it shattered his shield and slammed Hotaru backwards into Gritz! As he thought the confined space amplified the attack further and when Hotaru was finally revealed in the aftermath -- Gritz having been blown to smithereens -- he looked thoroughly pissed, burnt, and bloodied. "That happened." Hotaru quipped as a vein bulged on his temple. "It won't again." "Alright I hit him, but I'm sure it won't happen a second time." Michael mummbled to himself, only to be exerting his thoughts out loud. Michael lowered his blade and placed it into the sheath on his hip. Slouching slighty, he locked his gaze onto Hotaru's figure but remained unphazed. His earlier smile was replaced by a look of everlasting menace. He reached to his hip once more and redraw his blade. His sword began to glow a bright gold color as he squatted. His reiatsu began to gather at the blade of his sword. He grunted, a very deep grunt as though he had been pierced by an opposing blade. "I ain't heard your voice in a minute, Tenrairyū so please help me out." He thought, continuing to pour his reiatsu into the blade. Swipping it out in front of himself, he released a wave of lightning which headed towards Hotaru at great speeds. It's power exceeded his previous attack, it was the only way he figured he could fight on par with the man... Or so he thought. All Hotaru did was put his hand to his face and swipe it down but in that one motion there was a sudden weight all around -- there was no other way to describe it. The mask that formed over Hotaru's face was a simple white covering with a lightning bolt running through the right eye, with a scratched appearance and a slight red-lined opening around his mouth. "I think I've had enough." Hotaru answered. He slashed down once with a guttural roar! His voice appeared to have a double-timbre effect, which Michael would more closely identify with a Hollow rather than anything remotely Human in appearance. Using his amplified reiatsu -- not to mention the fact he'd seen the attack twice now -- Hotaru diffused the attack and emerged from the resulting shockwave completely unscathed. "That wasn't a bad swing, I'll grant you. But let's see how you handle this!?" Hotaru levelled his left-hand at Michael and opened his palm. Centred on his palm was a sphere of crimson-red reiatsu with specks of black. " ." The resulting wave was scarlet red with a distinct blackened outer edge and it was barrelling right for Michael and Jenna! The reiatsu compressed into the strike caught Michael completely off guard and for a moment, he was hesitant--while it was against his own will, his body trembled a bit. The man had completely tanked the teen's attack and in return fired off one he knew without a doubt had more power than his own. "What the hell is-" Michael's thoughts cut themselves short after he found himself having a sudden flash to when he first gained his Shinigami powers. In the face of the Hollow, only Michael stood while a wounded Shisui attempted to regain his own energy. In the next moment, an attack, very similiar to the one Hotaru had launched, hurled at that duo. As he came back to his senses, the attack had been hurling at himself and Jeanna though this time it was he who had to protect the two. Unconciously pouring his reiatsu into the blade, Michael burrowed his brows and frowned as he held the blade straight out in front of him. "I said, ROAR TENRAIRYU!" His demand ended with his body being engulfed by golden lightning reiatsu, with a grey tint around it. Even the Cero blast that had been launched forward had been swallowed by the explosion and drawn in by his sword, almost as if the blade were "cero rod" attracting the attack to himself to save Jeanna. The smoke cleared and Michael laid face flat in the dirt, his shihakushō rip almost to shreds leaving him a naked body. Slightly moving his head with what strength he had, Michael looked up at Hotaru his vision blurred but just enough to see his figure. "D-don't touch her b-bitch..." He tried to speak, but he passed out before he could go any further. Hotaru stepped closer. Michael was passed out -- he wasn't going to be a problem from now on. And Jenna was still attempting to recharge her flagging reiatsu, though the look she cast Hotaru was hate incarnate. It was a look Hotaru knew all too well. He had worn a similar scowl the day his father's impostor attempted to kill Hotaru, his twin, and his younger sister. "In recognition of this fool's efforts I'll let you live." He dismissed his mask and began to hoist the unconscious Michael onto his shoulder but was stopped when an arrow streaked past his cheek. If her arm hadn't been trembling so much it may well have pierced his skull. And that Hotaru could not abide. "... Stupid girl. You just signed your own death warrant!" WHIZZ! Hotaru's instincts kicked in and he managed to grab his prize and flee in the same motion. As he returned to his feet he casually swung Michael onto his left shoulder whilst turning to face the figure who had moments ago blurred right past his skull. "I can't allow that." The speaker had slid to a halt and was standing right between Hotaru and Jenna. He was dressed in a white tracksuit with black running shoes, and his shoulder-length brown hair was blowing lazily in the wind. He didn't look like someone ready to do battle -- if anything the deadpan expression, coupled with the man's lazy way of speaking, gave the opposite impression. But the look in those amber-coloured eyes were hard: this man was no stranger to juggling life and death. "... Garrett?" Jenna asked nervously. "Is that really you?" He did not turn around and kept his gaze locked firmly on Hotaru. "I suggest you do your disappearing act, Visored." "What!? No! You can't leave Michael to him!" Garrett felt like telling her to drop the decibel level to save his hearing but ultimately said nothing. The indecision showed however: he was weighing the risk and reward, though the answer he arrived at would not be satisfactory. He un-clenched his fists. "I can and will." And this time Garrett did risk glancing in her direction. "I can't defeat our mysterious opponent here, wrestle Michael from him, and keep you safe at the same time." He then returned his gaze to Hotaru. "Besides, if I fought him here, I'd also have to contend with David. Right, brother?" And from behind Hotaru stepped none other than Jenna's brother David. "You knew all along, didn't you?" Hotaru, however, seemed to have had enough of being ignored. "That's enough! We got what we came for. Now it's time we left." "Garrett...? Do something!" David merely and he and Hotaru vanished into the dark abyss beyond...